Or: Gotta pop down to the photo lab, pick up an exhibition.

David Horvitz wants to make “something that is personal to the viewer”. In this case, the something is called “For a Brief Time Only at a Location Near You” (–> Link) and the something is part of my small but ever growing collection. I was stumbled over this item by Christian Schwarm right in the middle of a discussion of new or even alternative concepts for galleries and the apparatus that is the art market in general.

David Horvitz is one of the curators of the show. And he makes it extremely difficult for me not to make this post to be entirely about him, since he is an artist whose work I find extremely interesting. (–> Link) <cut back to “For a Brief Time Only …>  Alongside David, there is Mylinh Trieu Nguyen, the other part of ASDF, which „is a designer/ artist collaboration.“ David does the „curating, conceptualizing and writing, and Mylinh does all the design and production work“.

For “For a Brief Time Only …”, David and Mylinh collected and curated the work of 24 artists who readily agreed to have their work printed in 4×6 inches on standard photographic paper. At any shop near you that accepts file upload and in-store photo-pick up & payment.

So it’s not only affordable but also extremely convenient to visit. “Infiltrating their (i.e. mostly major American drug-stores) spaces with our game” is one of the purposes of this exhibition.

It could also be seen as a sympathetic elbow, nudging the rib cage of the established functionaries of the art market (artists, galleries, auction houses and collectors alike). Which is what I like most about it.

The above is the index photo, one of three “organisational” slides. The other two are a list of artists and artwork titles and the third is a letter to the person operating the image printing machine, ensuring the staff that everything is alright.

The twenty-four artists featured in the exhibition are: Ken Ehrlich, John Sisley, Martin John Callanan, Miranda Lichtenstein, Lucky Dragons, eteam, Jim Skuldt, Mira O’Brien, Joshua Kit Clayton, Matt Keegan, Emily Mast, Brian Kennon, Lukas Geronimas, Amy Lam, Paul Pieroni, Moyra Davey, Graham Parker, Paul Branca, Penelope Umbrico, Lucy Raven, Bik Van der Pol, Emilie Halpern, Tim Ridlen, and Vlatka Horvat.

Of course, it’s not a limited edition or even unique works, at the time of writing over 300 units have been ordered. Still, the concept is well worth supporting and owning. I’m wondering how to present it at home. In a flip-book? Individually framed? All in one frame? So many options …

If you want to see the show, you can do so until December 4th. Just visit www.asdfmakes.com (–> link) to make the necessary arrangements.

If you don’t live in the USA or UK but are registered at Independent Collectors, just look for a collector from these countries and ask for assistance. Or if you’re visiting art basel miami beach, you could probably order it for pick up there …

PS: Of course I bought one of David’s own works. He thought about me for a minute. Which is definitely the most personal artwork I own (apart from the patina painting by Karin Sander, maybe). I thank Christian, for shoving me in the right direction to discover David’s work before he did.

Images provided by ASDF.

Or: I discovered another type of collector in me.

Up to now, I had a feeling of taking the business of collecting very serious. Which felt good and the right thing to do. I spoke to established gallerists, established collectors and mostly about established artists.

However, the online exhibitions at Independent Collectors and viewing what great extensions and items some collectors buy to create their collection encouraged me to go a little more adventurous myself.

- Insert a few moments of browsing my favourite weblogs -

Suddenly, at joshspear.com (link), I come by an older post about a guy I used to adore when I was a teenager. I’m talking about Frank Kozik (link), creator of concert posters, album covers and other graphic art. My record collection contains quite a batch of the stuff he did for his now long gone label Man’s Ruin (link). I bought some albums he created the artwork for, even if I didn’t like the music.

Now I see this online store where you can get signed Kozik items reasonably priced (link). The guy just has no respect … in a positive way. (Plus he looks a bit like Philip K. Dick.) At first sight the stuff doesn’t compare with the items I occupied my time with recently. But it actually corresponds with some in a nice way.

I spontaneously ordered a print (“Adolf”) and a small original artwork (“I’m only here for the beer!”):

It feels as if I suddenly discovered a separate collector’s identity within me, one that is more punk, maybe, but definitely less serious. It’s an interesting experience to witness how my collection habits start to reflect different aspects of my personality. What other personality-traits will I come across? I wonder …

In just a few weeks time I will place two artworks on a wall in my apartment. Left, there will be Jonathan Monk’s “Endless search for perfection” and to the right of it Frank Kozik’s “I’m only here for the beer!” Everything will be in balance then.

Or: Art can be hard on your wallet.

In my last post I wrote about the artwork “48.085″ by Rudolf Reiber. I visited him again last Monday and I bought the piece. (I took my wife with me to see how she feels about it. And since she positively jumped in when it came to payment arrangements, I guess she is ok with it.) It is the first large work I bought and it feels amazing. Rudolf will probably come over to my new flat in October to hang it for me. I will post pictures then.

This artwork really tears a hole into my wallet. In fact, it exceeds the art-budget I had set myself for 2008 by approximately 150 percent. But you know what? I don’t care. If you compare it to other “hobbies” like deep sea diving or smoking, this is absolutely ok. Speaking of budget …

I also bought a piece by Karin Sander (link) at galerie mueller-roth in Stuttgart (link). Spontaneously. A “Patina-Bild” or patina painting. A small one.

The idea is that the owner places the painting in a certain place, where the canvas is altered by the environment. I heard that someone placed one inside his letterbox. Or behind the rear window of his car. Or behind the cooker. I will take mine to Burning Man. (link)

I will publish another post on Friday night, just before I leave for the airport with a picture of the “clean” patina painting. The next post after that will be the painting after 7 days in the Nevada desert.